Original
* * *
Я хочу ухопитись за життя,За той момент, коли я молодий,За ті прекрасні в серці почуття,За той душевний стан палкий.
Я хочу ухопитись за життя,Щоб не втрачати молодості літ,Щоб зберігати в собі те дитя,Що здійснює фантазії політ.
Я хочу ухопитись за життя,Щоб зупинити часу плин,Щоб щастя принести в буття,Чи це бажання – нездійснена мрія-дим?
Translation
* * *
I want to grab hold of life,of that moment when I am young,of those beautiful feelings in the heart,of that ardent state of the soul.
I want to grab hold of life,so as not to lose the years of youth,so as to keep inside me that childwho makes the flight of fantasy.
I want to grab hold of life,so as to stop the flow of time,so as to bring happiness into being —or is this wish an unfulfilled dream, a smoke?
About the poem
“I want to grab hold of life” — four times, at the head of four stanzas. For the moment of being young, for the fire in the heart, for “the child inside who makes fantasy fly”; to stop time and bring happiness into being — “or is this wish an unfulfilled dream, smoke?” The last stanza knows the answer and wants anyway: there is no disappointment yet, “I’m still alive”; the repentance will be bitter “all the same,” but “still I want — while I’m young.” Carpe diem, spoken by someone who can already see the end of the day. Repetition makes the desire physical: the speaker does not merely want life, he wants to seize it before youth passes. The child within is not immaturity but imaginative force, the part capable of turning existence into flight rather than routine.